The editorial Page: india doesn’t just need start-ups, but scale-ups that become global giants 8 WEdNESdAY, JUNE 24, 2026 JournAlisM of CourAge ahmeDaBaD, laTe CiTy, 18 paGeS ₹5.00 l www.indianexpress.com Da i ly f R o m : a h m e Da B a D , C h a N D i Ga R h , D e l h i , J a i p u R , ko l k aTa , l u C k N o w , m u m B a i , N aG p u R , paT N a , p u N e , va D o Da R a happening today lBangladesh PM Tarique Rahman will begin an official visit to China. During the visit, until June 26, Dhaka and Beijing are likely to discuss the Teesta river plan. New Delhi will be keeping a close watch on any announcement on the project. lThe BoMBay hC is sched- uled to hear State of Goa’s concluding arguments in its appeal against Tehelka founder editor Tarun Tejpal's acquittal in a rape case by a trial court in 2021. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com Land bought by MP CM’s family: Opp Cong seeks his resignation, independent probe express news service Business as usual New Delhi, Bhopal, June 23 THE coNGRESS on Tuesday demanded Madhya Pradesh chief Minister Mohan Yadav’s resignation, citing The Indian Express investigation on land purchases linked to his family andassociatedrealestatefirms. The party also sought a public explanation from the cM and an “independent inquiry” into the issue. TheIndianExpressreported on Tuesday that after Yadav took oath as the cM on By EP UNNY the editorial page in ujjain, a familiar plot, a disturBing aBdication page 8 December 13, 2023, his family andtheirrealestatecompanies had bought at least 137 plots in »ConTInUed on Page 2 harikishan sharma & amitabh sinha New Delhi, June 23 6 yrs before sit probe, audit firm flagged lack of ‘systemic record’ of ram temple donations Had sought SOP for each level of transaction to fix accountability Ayodhya, June 23 wITHIN MoNTHS of the formation of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, an audit firm had found its management to be “highly unprofessional” and noted that there wasno“systemicrecord”ofdonations. Six years later, the recommendation of the private audit firm that a “Systematic operating Process (SoP)” be drafted forefficientmanagementisyet to be implemented, even as the temple committee is now facing allegations of misappropriationofdonations.ASpecial Investigation Team submitted its preliminary findings to the uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday. InitsreportsubmittedinNovember2020,theauditfirmsuggested the “Need to devise SoP oftrustforeachleveloftransaction, data management, staff and other resources” to fix responsibilityandaccountability. Italsonotedtheunavailability of “systematic record for financial reporting” and said: “(The) Layer of management at the execution level is not defined and highly unprofessional… It will be difficult to controltheinformationandestablish fair practice in the present scenario.” A senior official at the firm wascontacted,butcouldnotbe reached for comment. The IndianExpressalsosentquestions to the firm’s accountant, chandan Rai, as well as the trust’s »ConTInUed on Page 2 India, US start trade talks union commerce and Industry minister Piyush Goyal with united states Trade representative Jamieson Greer and us ambassador to India sergio Gor in new delhi, Tuesday. aNi exPLaIned, PaGe 13 2 held, Role oF 2 PUnJaB PolICe oFFICeRs UndeR sCRUTIny express news service Mumbai, June 23 A Two-JuDGE division bench of the Bombay High court last week upheld a decision of a single judge that restrained the ExpressPublications(Madurai) Pvt. Ltd (EPML) from using the title The New Indian Express outside the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, odisha and Andhra Pradesh andspecifiedunionTerritories. Thisprohibitionemanatesfrom a Memorandum of Settlement signed between EPML and The Indian Express (P) Limited in 1995 which became a decree of the Madras High court. The division bench of Justice Bharati H Dangre and Justice Manjusha A Deshpande heldtherewas“noperversityor patent error” in the November 13, 2025 order of Justice Riyaz I chagla. ThebenchofJusticeDangre and Justice Deshpande, by a judgementpronouncedonJune 15, 2026, dismissed an interim applicationintheappealfiledby Express Publications (Madurai) Pvt. Ltd against the November 2025 decision by the bench of Justice chagla, which had passed the order on an interim application in a commercial intellectualpropertyrightssuitby »ConTInUed on Page 2 wITH INDIA staring at a fairly weak monsoon season this year and kharif crops likely to be impacted, the Agriculture Ministry has formulated contingency plans for districts likely to be most affected due to low rainfall, and identified 111 districts with irrigation coverage of 25 per cent or less as ‘high priority’ needing intervention, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh chouhan said on Tuesday. After chairing a review meeting, held over video conference, with state agriculture ministers, senior officials and district collectors, chouhan said that 315 districts across the country were likely to be affected due to low monsoon rainfall. “of these (315 districts), 111 districts are of high priority, wheretheirrigationcoverageis lessthan25percent;76districts are of medium priority, where 25-50percentirrigationisavailable; 128 districts are of low »ConTInUed on Page 2 Rs 10 lakh paid to tailor forensic report: Gurgaonpolice on clip Mann called fake the Big picture CM points finger at ‘some wrong elements’ in Akal Takht, AAP at BJP-ruled Haryana Varinder Bhatia HC upholds decision to restrain use of New Indian Express outside permitted territories Rainfall 43% deficit so far, kharif crops likely to be hit: Govt Agri ministry flags 111 districts as ‘high priority’, prepares contingency plans The Express report dated June 23 express special shyamlal yadav shIVRaJ holds ReVIew MeeTIng Chandigarh, June 23 AMID A raging row in Punjab over an “objectionable” video clip purportedly featuring chiefMinisterBhagwantMann who has told the Sri Akal Takht that the footage was fake and manipulated, police in Gur- gaon have arrested two men following a complaint from a forensic expert that two senior officers of Punjab Police allegedly paid him Rs 10 lakh to tailor a forensic report on the video clip. The Gurgaon police FIR, whichmentionstwoPunjabofficials, names two individuals Punjab cm Bhagwant mann has maintained that an actor was used in the clip to defame him who have been arrested — ArunMahendrufromSirsaand »ConTInUed on Page 2 via lipulekh: at 17,000 ft, a trade door opens into china page 14 Enrolment drive: Gujarat Education Minister reaches out to school dropouts, at their doorstep Ritu sharma RIVABA JADEJA, Gujarat's Minister of State for Primary, Secondary and Adult Education, on Tuesday walked right up to the doorsteps of multiple students who dropped out from school in 2025-26 in Sa- Gujarat education minister rivaba Jadeja and others in sabarkantha’s tribal-dominated Poshina Taluk on Tuesday. BhupeNDRa RaNa For farmers, bajra crop of choice: Short maturity, low water, fertiliser need harish damodaran Rewari, Alwar, Dausa, June 23 “I HoPE the monsoon arrives by this month-end. I can sow bajra even it comes by July 15. The problem will be if it’s delayed beyond that,” says Ramsingh Meena. The 52-year-old from Jalalpura village in Baijupara tehsil of Rajasthan’s Dausa district grows bajra or pearl millet on his entire 50-bigha (31 acres) land: “This is the best crop in »ConTInUed on Page 2 E. explained gloomy forecast The first half of the monsoon (June-July) was supposed to be slightly better this season. But so far, June has been drier than expected. With El Nino gaining in strength, the outlook for the subsequent months is not very bright. June accounts for 19% of the monsoon rains, July contributes 32%. AAP MLA Chaitar Vasava, co-accused get 7-year jail term in 2023 assault case aditi Raja ground report Poshina (Sabarkantha), June 23 agriculture minister shivraj singh chouhan chairs a review meeting at krishi Bhawan in new delhi, Tuesday. X/@ChouhaNShivRaJ barkantha’s tribal-dominated taluka of Poshina to convince them and their parents to go back to school on the first day of the state government's annual enrolment drive, Shala Praveshotsav and Kanya Kelavani. The 24th edition of the »ConTInUed on Page 4 RelaTed RePoRT, Page 3 Vadodara, June 23 AcouRTinGujarat’sNarmada district on Tuesday sentenced AAP MLA chaitar Vasava, his wife, and seven others to seven years in jail in a 2023 case related to the alleged assault and extortion of forest officials. The court's sentencing is a setback for the Aam Aadmi Party in Gujarat, where chaitar has emerged as one of the party’s most influential tribal leaderssinceits2022Assembly election breakthrough. Additional Sessions Judge AVHirparaalsoimposedafine of Rs 25,000 on chaitar. Prosecutor Vandana Bhatt saidtheeightotheraccused,including Vasava’s wife Shakuntala, have also been sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. “At present, all the accused have been ordered to be kept in judicial custody at the Rajpipla sub-jail. In addition, the ac- no stay on conviction, chaitar Vasava stands disqualified as mLa: Gujarat assembly sources cused have filed an application seeking transfer to a jail in another district, as their presence in Narmada could disturb law and order,” Bhatt said. “one of the four convicted women is pregnant and another has a newborn child. Therefore, her lawyer has submitted an application requestingthatthechildbeallowedto stay with the mother in jail,” she added. »ConTInUed on Page 2 landhra Pradesh IT mInIsTer nara Lokesh says TdP's suPPorT To Pm ‘uncondITIonaL’, reJecTs suGGesTIons BJP aLLIes are aT a dIsadVanTaGe In nda ‘Parties like TMC, AAP that lose ideology after coming to power face trouble’ express news service Naidu, said the TDP has endured political ups and downs because it remained rooted in THE REGIoNAL parties that its ideology and cadre despite lose their ideological moorings facing both victories and deafter years in power inevitably feats over the years. run into trouble, Andhra PraReferringtoTMcleaderAbdesh IT Minister and Telugu hishekBanerjee,Lokeshsaidhe Desam Party (TDP) was going through a national working difficult phase and page 1 president Nara Losuggested that the kesh said, citing the TMc had become challenges being “complacent” after faced by parties such as the Tri- spendingmorethanadecadeat namool congress (TMc) and the helm of the west Bengal the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). government. He claimed that Speaking at the Express both the Mamata Banerjee-led Adda in Delhi on Monday, Lo- TMc and the Arvind Kejriwalkesh, the son of Andhra Pra- led AAP had drifted away from desh chief Minister and TDP the principles on which they president N chandrababu were founded. New Delhi, June 23 anchor andhra minister nara Lokesh at the express adda, monday. ReNuka puRi “when I look at what is happening around me, the message is loud and clear that we stand for our ideology, as a regional party, we should stand for our workers and we have to double down on it. Parties whichhavelosttheirideologies because of winning elections and coming to power multiple times have faced challenges,” Lokesh said. He was in conversationwithVanditaMishra,National opinion Editor, The Indian Express. The TDP is a key ally of the BJP in both Andhra Pradesh and at the centre. Lokeshrejectedsuggestions that regional parties were at a disadvantage within the BJPled NDA, insisting that the alliance provided enough space for partners to express their views and shape policies. “our support to NDA has always beenunconditional.ourleader and the TDP believe that India needs stable leadership,” he said,addingthatdifferenceson policy matters were discussed within the NDA. “I absolutely disagree with that narrative. Because whenever we wanted to voice an opinion, the doors were always Ahmedabad open. whenever we wanted reforms to come in certain sectors, our opinion was always heard. And things were changed,” he said. Lokesh cited the waqf amendmentBillasanexample, saying the TDP had raised concerns that eventually led to wider consultations on it. He also referred to discussions on the delimitation issue, saying the party had closely studied the proposal before taking up its concerns within the ruling coalition. The question of the TDP’s place in the NDA resurfaced when Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian ExpressGroup,referredtoreports of a meeting involving cM Naidu, a corporate leader and a formerVice-PresidentinMumbai. Asked what had transpired during that meeting, Lokesh dismissed speculation that it had any political significance. “I don’t know why this story keepsrepeating.Andit’salways as if the TDP has to prove itself that we are in NDA. Someone writes TDP is upset, someone says TDP is going to go away. There was never such conversation,becauseallthedoorsare open,” the TDP leader said. “About the rumour, I met Modi ji. I told him the context in which I met the person and the conversations I have had »ConTInUed on Page 2